March 16 & 17, 2006 Mumbai (Bombay), India
We went on a guided tour of Bombay, seeing interesting sites such as the laundry, a hanging garden (the garden in above the city, not actually hanging), many of the government buildings and Gandhi’s home and a museum. At the garden Alemitu announced that she needed to use the restroom. We asked our guide and she sent us to a small building that was falling down. After paying about 2-3 cents, we were told to enter the building. The toilet was a hole in the foundation (not too clean) and there was a can full of water – no toilet paper. This was the first time Alemitu has used a non-Western toilet in 10 years. She never said a word…. Mixed among these sites were the constant barrage of beggars and people selling anything you can imagine. Alemitu found beautiful clothes to buy and had the patience to find what she wanted despite having a beggar right at her elbow, and to then bargain for what she wanted. I finally just told Carter to take me back to the bus. I needed some personal space.
Our tour guide seemed to sum up India for me. She said that here was no part of India where you don’t have the extremely poor and the extremely rich living side by side. That is totally true. There are some nicer parts of town, but there is always a slum around the corner (within the same block). The odors are also such an assault on your senses. There may be the interesting spices or a multitude of incense, but there is also that of old urine, oil spilled on the pavement, body odor, unpleasant sour smells. You see so much upward mobility within the population, with so many chances for a better life, and then the raw realities of the poor. It is hard to process.
The last day Carter took the morning to buy computer equipment. He took too much time there and the nurse who had been promised time to buy fabric was left in the cold. Carter called me one hour before the ship was to leave and asked me to go with the nurse to do some quick shopping, just 5 minutes from the ship. We took off in a run, but couldn’t find the shop for a good 20 minutes. I started to get nervous because I knew the ship would leave without us – no questions asked. Well, she shopped with a little more leisure than I would have and then we took off in a run the other direction. Thank goodness I have been working out every day. I didn’t want to die of a heart attack on a Bombay street. We arrived back at the ship with only 2 minutes to spare. It must have taken an hour to get my pulse down, but we were on the ship and I knew I wouldn’t have to spend the night in Bombay with no clothes and only a credit card…..I will NEVER go shopping 1 hour before the ship leaves. It was far too stressful! Winnie
Sunday, March 19, 2006 At Sea, near Oman
One of the tours to Agra had a bus accident as the bus tried to avoid a sacred cow and collided into another bus. One lady broke her ankle, numerous others were tossed around and sustained huge bruises. I'm sure the anti-coagulants didn't help. Also, Air India served something on the flight to Agra that has caused huge amounts of diarrhea. So all in all, the trip to Agra wasn't spectacular - but it has enhanced Carter's revenue for his department.
Monday, March 20, 2006 Salalah, Oman
As we cruised into this port, there is an overwhelming sense of sand. Everything is the same yellow-pink color with an occasional palm tree in clumps. The intensity of the sun is unbelievable. I was sure I would instantly melt, but in the shade, it was actually comfortable – at least until 8am. This country used to be exceedingly poor until the discovery of oil in the 1960’s. Now it is totally going in the other direction…..and the first place to feel the change is in the cab fares. In India we were able to engage a cab driver for $10 for 4-5 hours. The driver would stay with you while you shopped, drive you anywhere you might request. In Oman, the going rate for the trip into town (20 km) was $40-50! And one of the biggest problems was that once the cabs had dropped you off in town, it was extremely difficult to find one to bring you back to the port.
I’ll let Alemitu explain their trip into town. Of course, she was with some of the best bargainers around….. Winnie
Tuesday, March 21, 2006 Arabian Sea
We just saw the account of probable pirates off the Somali coast. I’m not totally relaxed about this transit. I’ll feel better when we are in the Red Sea and across from Djibouti.
Winnie
Friday, March 24, 2006 Red Sea, close to Suez Canal
Well, we made it without incident. As we would pass some of those smaller fishing boats (looking exactly like the pirate boats in the photos), I would just take a deep breath and hope they were actually fishing. I guess they were.
Carter has been more than busy with all of the hacking coughs that are attacking everyone. Some of going into pneumonias. Also many passengers are starting to run out of their medications. Most of them claim to have counted incorrectly….so there are numerous communications with Egypt to try to obtain what is needed. I hope I counted correctly. We are happy to have the e-mail available because Carter and I are starting to miss home and our lives there. Alemitu hasn’t quite reached that state. We have been told there will be a change in itinerary and we won’t be able to go to Libya. We will go to Malta and another island in Greece.
Winnie
March 25, 2006
Hi y'all,
We are well just finished sailing through the Suez Canal....Very interesting! To Alexandria tomorrow where I will stay aboard while others visit the Pyramids. Hope to visit the new World Library late afternoon if open there. Heading East!
Carter
Carter and the Suez Canal
posted by Hills @ 8:36 AM
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